Circulating ‘Gate of Heaven’ Image is Digital Artwork Not a Photo Taken From Hubble
The original site is no longer online; links go to the Internet Archive copy.
The claim
FOR THOSE WHO MISSED IT YESTERDAY
This is a photo taken by Hubble. Scientists cannot begin to figure out what it is. I like to think of it as the gate of heaven – be sure and click on it to view it larger. it is truly breath-taking!
If any has ever spent time out in the country away from city lights you know how beautiful stars are. Can you even imagine how glorious this would be to see it surround you in person?! \0/
What the fact-checkers found
A rather compelling star scene image that is circulating via social media and the blogosphere has been dubbed by some as the ‘Gate of Heaven’. Others claim that the image depicts ‘cosmic ice sculptures’ in the Carina Nebula.
The descriptions that accompany the image claim that it is a photograph taken from the Hubble telescope and suggest that ‘scientists cannot begin to figure out what it is’.
However, the image is not a photograph taken from Hubble and there is no mystery as to its origin. In fact, the image is an artwork by a digital artist named Adam Ferriss and can be seen in various other locations on the Internet. It is a part of a collection of similar images that the artist calls ‘500 Years Away’.
The background of the image is certainly reminiscent of nebula photographs taken from Hubble and other telescopes. However, the structure in the centre of the image is derived purely from the imagination of the artist.
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